A place of retreat for this mother of seven (currently fighting Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer) to speak on the joys and challenges of life for a Catholic family immersed in American culture.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Post-Surgical Report

For those of you following along and wondering how my minor surgery went on Friday, I am happy to report that all went well and, overall, I am feeling much better than I thought I would be at this point.

Since I don't believe I mentioned this ahead of time on my blog (because I have been less than consistent in updating), for those of you confused by this because you've never heard anything about it, I had to have a fairly minor surgery to remove an endometrial polyp that was causing me some trouble. It was a simple, outpatient procedure that was complicated only by the fact that I am on blood thinners because of the major blood clot I had in my leg last fall and has still not dissipated. Happily, all went well: I did not bleed excessively and I am recovering nicely. The mass was biopsied several weeks ago so we already know that it is not cancerous, which is of course what we were most concerned about.

This was my first surgical experience at Cedars-Sinai and it was very pleasant (if this sort of thing can be pleasant). I continue to be impressed by the staff and facilities I have come across (and I have hit four departments already in my first month, so my sample size is not small) and am very happy to be there.

Nonetheless, the situation is not without irony. Jay's company was acquired this week by IBM and our health insurance will be changing as of June 1st. Naturally, it covers UCLA. If this had happened three months earlier, I would not have had to go through this transition. But with faith that everything happens for a reason, I am certain I was meant to make the change. And I am feeling quite lucky to have access to a very good health plan in the new situation, though it will cost us a bit more.

Next up: Regular systemic Herceptin infusion on Tuesday as well as an intrathecal (in the brain) dose. Routine stuff for me now...can you imagine?

Praying for you every day. So is my Dad. When I told him how well you are doing he (who has seen a lot)said, "she's a walking miracle!"I KNOW! And the gutsiest girl I know...Who else can stare death down like you have?? Thanks be to God!